Psst, gotta sec? It's God

Published 4:00 am, Wednesday, March 26, 2008

From Hades to heaven, whoosh, there she goes. Pat Montandon's memoir "Oh, the Hell of It All" has become "A Life Beyond Imaginings: Whispers From God." The original title was a knock-off of the author's son's memoir, "Oh, the Glory of It All," and the new one is her original title, she says. Montandon will be at Book Passage in Corte Madera on April 7.

P.S.: In other intriguing figures of speech, both Bud Johnsand Gar Smith were dazzled by Condoleezza Rice's assertion regarding passport file breaches, "I'll stay on top of it and get to the bottom of this." Johns says it's the latest example of Republican trickle-down.

In the Haight, stencils of Barack Obama's smiling face are decorating the sidewalk. But in real life, he is turning up in more lucrative venues: The candidate will be around here on April 6, at a series of events that includes three $2,300-a-head maximum-strength fundraisers: Sara and Sohaib Abbasiare throwing a luncheon in Atherton; he'll zip up to Nancy and Bob Farese's house in Kentfield in mid-afternoon; and proceed from there to Ann and Gordon Getty's in San Francisco. (There's also a mere $1,000-a-person do at the home of Carolyn Davisand Alex Mehranthat night.)

Your trusty party-animal-by-proxy has tried to infiltrate these events, but transparency seems to be fogged up. No media eyes allowed on the collection kettles; when the gifts are big, the press is barred.

P.S.: Christina Orth, who attended an open San Francisco Symphony rehearsal Thursday, left Davies Hall promoting "Obama for President, Dudamel for Vice President." And Bill Katovskysays, "Obama is the new black." And in the men's room at 1300 Fillmore, restaurant consultant Andrew Freeman, a New Jersey-born white man, was mistaken for candidate Obama (with whom he shares his face shape and haircut) by a man who greeted him while he was washing his hands. By the time Freeman emerged from the restroom, there was a crowd of well-wishers waiting outside. He flashed the "V" sign, said "vote for me" and returned to his table.

-- At 10 a.m. on Easter Sunday morning, Barry Bondshad a hearty breakfast at Lefty O'Doul's, all by himself.

-- Supervisor Ross Mirkarimi, whose ancestry includes Persians, threw a Norouz Deed-o Bazdeed (Persian New Year) celebration in his City Hall office on Friday. This involved the drinking of chai, the eating of shirini (a Persian sweet), and the showing of works by three Iranian artists. More than 250 attended, and Iranians and Americans ate and danced together, an antidote "to saber-rattling between the U.S. and Iran," says Mirkarimi.

-- "A Night in the Old Market Place," a 1906 story by Y.L. Peretzwith music by Klezmatics trumpeter Frank London, opened the Jewish Music Festival on Saturday night. After the show, spy Janis Plotkin says narrator Michael Krasnycited UC Davis Jewish Studies chair David Biale's description of the work as "Chagall on steroids."

No biz like showbiz:

-- Professional trumpeter Ellen Seeling, hired to play with Keely Smithat her Rrazz Room gig, was fired because Smith won't go onstage with a woman. Club representative Jon Finckconfirms this, explaining that Smith's act "plays off that sexual energy of men." No matter, Seeling says it's unfair. "I don't have any objection to her playing off men in the show, and wouldn't care if she did it while I was in the band. Couldn't she just ignore me?"

-- Kalena Gregoryof the Hui Hula 'o na Pu'u i ka Noe troupe in Berkeley forwarded a copy of her irate e-mail to organizers of the Tiburon International Film Festival, for whom the hula troupe performed free. She says they got neither food nor parking spots, both of which had been promised. Perhaps there's another side to this; I want to stay out of the fray. I'm mentioning it only to cite Gregory's stinging rebuke to the idyllic community: "In Hawai'ian culture (as opposed to Tiburon culture)," she wrote, "hospitality is very important."

-- Delia Ehrlich, a close friend of Marilyn Horne's since the singer made her San Francisco Opera debut almost 50 years ago, was at a "Words on Dance" program last week in which Rita Moreno, another friend, reminisced about playing Tuptim in "The King and I." Moreno mentioned that Horne, in one of her first roles, was in the chorus, and that she had seen the singer only a few times since then. After the show, Ehrlich informed Moreno that Horne was in San Francisco playing in "Pauline Viardot and Friends." They all went to Saturday night's Viardot show, after which Moreno and Horne had a grand reunion, said Ehrlich.

As to that secret Olympic Torch route, Rollie Schragis noticed city-posted signs at either end of the east sidewalk on the Golden Gate Bridge, warning of the walkway's April 9 closure.